Let me tell you that this review will mostly be directed at the BAT-CIT Bachelors program. With that said, let me start off with a quick background on me so you can better judge the validity of my review.
I attended STC starting in 2007 and graduated in 2009 with an AAS/Network Specialist degree and again in 2011 with a degree successfully competing their BAT/Computer Information Technology program. Went to work full time (7:00am-4:00pm) and attended school full time (Spring/Summer/Fall), in the evenings. Wasn't easy, but I wanted my Bachelors degree so some sacrifices, namely spare time, had to be made. Attending for those four years, I would say I had most of the experiences that pretty much all students have in dealing with admissions, advisers, instructors, etc. Job wise, I am a Linux systems administrator here in Austin. While the AAS program did offer one class, Introduction to UNIX, it in no way was responsible for my acquiring the job I have now. I was purely self-taught.
With that said, I was going to give STC's BAT program 1star, but ended up deciding that 2 stars is more appropriate and fair to the instructors that know the material they teach.
Their Bachelors of Applied Technology program (known as the BAT once enrolled), is a complete waste of time and money. Those are strong words, but in all honesty, they couldn't be more true. There are a good number of instructors there that have NO real world experience in what they are teaching yet they'll stand there with a straight face and tell you that what you are learning is what you'll need to be competitive in looking for an IT job. How are they supposed to teach you what you need to know to be prepared for the real world if they don't know themselves? One instructor in particular is Ms. Dezenea who was, I believe, a secretary prior to teaching Intro and Advanced IT Security. She literally has NO EXPERIENCE in that subject matter yet she still teaches it. Another example, there is no one teaching an extremely important enterprise OS, Linux or one of it's many flavors. No one is teaching important server side languages such as Python or Ruby. No teaching of programming languages such as Java which has MUCH more real world use than Objective-C which is pushed on students. The instructors are stuck on simple programming languages like Virtual Basic which has practically no real world value. Yes, there is a C# class, but chances are you'll come out as confused as you went in. Granted there are some instructors there that do know the material they are teaching and are more than willing to be helpful, but don't count on it. A number of them will tell you to refer to the book or to Google a solution for the issue and if you still can't find it, then keep looking. Simply put, if you're looking to attend the BAT program to learn new things and hopefully get a better job with those skills, then you might want to look towards Pan-Am's offerings or learn the important things on the side while attending STC.
S. Molki is the most rude and arrogant person you'll meet, and he's the program chair. His internship requirements while I was there were ridiculous. 160hrs interning, 50hrs tutoring students, get a technology related article published in a newspaper or magazine, and a paper that describes how the BAT program has improved your IT knowledge (which I assume is to feed his ego). Note that the BAT program is designed around working adults which is why the classes are in the evenings. With the internship, that goes out the window. Classes at night, intern during the day, tutoring when time allows. Not to bad yet, but here's a catch, you don't really get to pick what you tutor even though he appears to give you the option to. If you choose to tutor Introduction to Programming which is your strong suit to help other students learn, he might place you in Photoshop (if the class is still offered), which is a complete waste of time. One thing I was told which upset me was that I was assigned to tutor an Introduction to Computers class for incoming students new to STC which was at 7am rather than the IT security class I chose. I'm getting to work at that time and explained to him why I couldn't tutor for my original choice or another evening class as I requested since the BAT program was designed around daytime working adults. He said I was assigned to tutor the Intro class and if I couldn't make the time to be there then either quit my job or fail the tutoring part of my internship. Needless to say, I received and "F" for tutoring. That is only one of many reasons why I don't like him. I'll say this, once you meet him, you'll see what I mean.
Fact: the BAT is in dire need of graduates. Now you know two major reasons why. I suppose to put everything above in simpler terms, you'll receive a sub-par education and be charged thousands for it plus the program chair is a complete ass in every way possible.
Would write more, but limited to 5001 characters. read more
